Pet-Friendly Design: Making Room for the Dog Dish

Not everyone has a) a mudroom, b) a laundry room or c) remodeling rights to the residence they rent. Or an extra bedroom, bathroom, etc. Please be kind! My rented apartment consists of one bedroom, one bathroom, and a combination kitchen, dining, and living area (total of approximately 950 square feet). Since my skin-babies have grown and moved out (which is why the single bedroom), my fur-babies have free run of the available living space (minus the closet where the washer and dryer live - when I can keep the stupid magnetic "closure" closed!). I tend to wipe counters, stove and sink several times a day, just to keep up with the (human-caused) drips and splashes. While the litter box is in the bathroom, I am not really pleased that the floor tile is not conducive to sweeping up the scattered litter - and no, those "cat mats" that are advertised as containing the litter do NOT work, in our experience. So sweeping multiple times a day is required. Over tiny mosaic tiles with miles of grout, just to make life interesting and fun - NOT. As far as feeding is concerned, I do so at the end of the island, since it's really the only practical spot available. The sink for filling the water bowl is right there (did I mention that it's a very small kitchen area?) and I can wash the bowls immediately after they finish eating so they're ready for the next meal. By the way, my two guys are VERY particular about their tableware. They will not eat or drink from plastic or stainless steel. I shopped thrift stores for appropriately sized glass, although they prefer porcelain (and would probably really go for crystal, should I be insane enough to offer it!). How do I contain splashes and keep the crumbs off the floor? Well, I thank the family member's employee discount when he worked at IKEA - not that the price of the plastic tray was over the top, but fixed income and all that . . .

Yes, that's Panther headed for the water dish (we know black cats don't photograph well!). Dammit was hiding under the bed at picture time, as usual.

Is it an ideal solution? No, of course not. Is it the best I can do with what I've got? Yes, I think so. Especially since the alternative is . . . giving up my best friends. Not gonna happen. Would I like to have better alternatives? Well, yeah, but that sort of depends on hitting the lottery. Love the suggestions shown, both in the original article and in the comments. I have noticed, by the way, that cats, far more than dogs, habitually crouch to eat or drink, so I have no intention of providing them with a raised "diner".

I created this custom feeding station (at a house I renovated in Atlanta) for my Australian Shepherd, Sasha, by using a microwave wall cabinet from the Innermost collection (by Elkay). It was placed at the end of a run of cabinets (seen in the 2nd picture) across from the breakfast eating area. I had the countertop people fashion the (gray) piece in which his stainless steel bowls were inset out of Corian. The entire Corian inset slid out for easy cleaning, and the the 2-door section above stored treats, leashes, etc.

In my old house (when we had two male weimaraners) I converted a bottom cabinet drawer into a triple dish station--two for food, one for water). I had to try to waterproof it somewhat, because I sometimes think that these dogs slop more water on the floor than they drink. But it elevated the dishes off the ground (a good thing for older dogs) and slid back into the cabinet base out of the way when needed...but the boys could still stick their heads into it during the day. The tray holding the bowl cutouts (and lined with a cutout rubber mat) lifted out of the drawer for easier cleanups.